The Gift Of Twins

When our family was in the Philippines for a week-long holiday in June 2005, I already suspected that I was pregnant. For one, my period was late. Then there were the unmistakable symptoms of nausea, dizziness and an unexplained aversion towards certain types of food.

The moment we got back to KL, I immediately made an appointment with my obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Z, just to get the pregnancy confirmed and for me to get started on prenatal vitamins, as well.

When the customary urine test came out positive, Dr. Z did a quick ultrasound scan to check the size of the fetus and determine my EDD (expected due date).

“Six weeks,” she proclaimed.

I looked at the tiny figure on the screen, then at the dark area surrounding it, which looked abnormally larger than usual. Could my uterus have expanded much faster than usual?

“Doctor, cuba tengok kalau ada satu lagi (Doctor, try to see if there’s another one.),” I told her in half-jest. We’re very good friends – Dr. Z and I – hence, I’ve always felt free to joke around with her. She has, after all, delivered OnlyGirl and RoundBoy, so it’s a friendship that spans a good 10 years.

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Categories: Parenting, Twins | Tags: , , | 8 Comments

Search & Find

Why is it that when we are looking for something, we never find it? And why do we, instead, find things that we were not looking for in the first place?

I was looking some documents the other day. As expected, I didn’t find it. But — amidst the old receipts, bank statements, an advertisement for Murray Feiss, some articles on home renovations cut out from magazines,  plus a thousand and one other oddities –  I found this instead:-

cross-stitch

It’s a long-abandoned cross-stitch project of mine. It was meant to be a place mat with a chilli motif. It’s bold and brightly coloured, predominantly reds and yellows, meant to stimulate the senses and one’s appetite.

I started working on it when I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy with the twins. But, as you can see, I never even finished a single place mat.

The pattern can be used to make place mats and matching napkin rings. There are also several design options within the same pattern: chilli, pumpkin/squash, tomato, eggplant and bell pepper.

placemat pattern

And now I don’t know what to do with it. It seems like such a waste if I’m to chuck it all away in the dustbin — cloth, skein thread, pattern and all.

Suggestions, anyone?

Categories: Rojak | Tags: | 5 Comments

Pick Your Own Apples!

Would you like an apple?

Twin2 with apple

This is Twin2, having a grand time picking apples in an apple orchard.Can you guess where this photo was taken?

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Categories: Children, Travel, Twins | Tags: | 8 Comments

The Malaysia Savings Sale (And Other Sales In Malaysia)

The Malaysia Savings Sale starts today and ends on 4th January, 2009. It used to be known as the Malaysian Year-End Sale(YES).

Malaysia Savings Sale

It’s one of two major sales in Malaysia, the first one being the Malaysia Megasale Carnival that runs from July to August every year.

These two sales are THE sales to watch out for in Malaysia because the sale is all over the country, in all departments stores and shopping malls, with discounts up to 70%. Even big brands like Gucci and Coach offer goods at 50% discount. Never mind if they’re last season’s models.

Throughout the year, there are also other sales, usually coinciding with major holidays like Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Chinese New Year. The holidays will determine what items will have the most number of offers. For instance, Hari Raya Aidilfitri sales will sell a lot of baking ingredients and equipment (for making kuih Raya) and beef (for making rendang), Deepavali will see a lot of spices and muruku, Chinese New Year will have oranges, lemon plants with yellow fruits, and pussy willows. For all three major holidays, you can expect furniture, houseware, carpets, decorative items and DIY items doing brisk business, as well, because everyone will want to make sure that their houses are ready to receive guests. People also buy new clothes during those times, including the traditional baju melayu and baju kurung for Raya, sarees and salwar kameez for Deepavali, cheong sams and other red articles of clothing for Chinese New Year.

Ikea Malaysia, which is said to be the biggest outlet in Asia for the Swedish furniture giant, usually has a clearance sale in July, in preparation for the range of items that are launched in August. In December, however, they traditionally have a special item on sale everyday from 1st December until Christmas Eve. All year round, you can check out the Bargain Section (just before the check-out counters) that feature display items, slightly damaged items, and discontinued items being sold at extremely low prices.

In December, there will be a lot of back-to-school sales featuring stationery, school bags, uniforms and shoes, in preparation for the start of a new schoolyear in January.

Some shopping malls will also hold special sales in celebration of their anniversary.

But for the MegaSale Carnival (July/August) and Year-End Sale a.k.a. Savings Sale (December), everything’s on sale — designer clothes, toys, luggage, pop up tvs, computers, houseware, even carpets and furniture. They’re really the sales that are worth waiting for.

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On Sayang & Mahal

This is a reconstruction of an SMS (text message) exchange that took place not too long ago between myself and one of our managers, whom I shall refer to as ‘A’:-

A: Those stocks are all defective and have to be disposed of.
Me:
Sayang…
A: Better be careful with that word. I don’t want to get into trouble with your husband!

Filipinos would probably find A’s response perplexing. This is because the word sayang in Tagalog and Cebuano means ‘what a pity’. So why should be A get in trouble with my husband just because I sms’d him “Sayang“??

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Categories: Rojak | Tags: , , | 4 Comments